If you're a studio looking to showcase your game during Geoff Keighley's Gamescom Opening Night Live ceremony, then you'd better be prepared to pay for the privilege.
Per Gamescom's official booking form, prices for a spot during the pre-show start at €57,500, which works out at around $62,500. That'll get you a 30-second trailer. As a reminder, that's for the pre-show, not the main event.
For 60 seconds, you'll have to pay €82,500 (about $90,000), with prices rising to €107,500 (about $117,000) and €132,500 (around $144,000) for 90-second and 120-second spots respectively. The pre-show airs before the livestream for the main show, and it's not shown to Gamescom's in-person audience.
Bookings for the main show are sold out now, but a quick search through the trusty internet archive reveals just how much a studio will have paid for their game to be shown during Opening Night Live, and the costs are pretty eye-watering.
A mere 30-second spot costs a staggering €115,000, with prices rising to €165,000, €215,000, and €265,000 for 60-second, 90-second, and 120-second spots in that order.
If you think that sounds expensive, then you're not wrong; prices have risen significantly for showcase hopefuls since 2022. According to PC Gamer, a one-minute trailer during 2022's Gamescom Opening Night Live would have cost €125,000, which is €40,000 less than this year's price.
A 90-second spot would have set a studio back €165,000 in 2022, as compared to the €215,000 the same studio would pay today. Hey, at least they didn't hike the prices when the main show slots sold out, right?
It's worth noting that there are some games that are essentially editorially chosen, and that those games "earn" themselves a spot during Opening Night Live without having to pay for the privilege, so not everyone's going to be coughing up the amounts outlined above.
Additionally, these prices aren't for a spot on the show floor (since Gamescom is a public event at which studios have booths for interested attendees to check out); they're strictly for a trailer during Opening Night Live or its pre-show segment.
Still, any studio that wants to show off its game during such a high-profile presentation had better have some serious cash to pony up, it seems.
Gamescom Opening Night Live airs on August 20th at 2pm Eastern (that's 11am Pacific), and you'll be able to catch it via Gamescom's official YouTube and Twitch channels.
